History

The genesis of the VUMHDC is directly connected to the vision and passion of United Methodist pastor Rev. Robert Regan, who was appointed to serve several churches in the northern Virginia region during the 1960’s - 70’s. He sensed the unmet need for more affordable housing opportunities and began working through the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church to establish a specific corporation to focus on development of affordable housing. His early efforts were instrumental in the founding of the Reston Inter-Faith Housing Corp. (Fairfax County) and Wesley Housing (Arlington/Alexandria).

In 1975 the Virginia Annual Conference voted to authorize the formation of an affordable housing development group which was named VUMHDC. Rev. Regan was elected president and continued to lead the organization for the next 35 years until his retirement in May 2010. During his tenure, Rev. Regan was responsible for the development and acquisition of affordable of most of the current portfolio of properties. He was resolute in his view that VUMHDC was on a sacred and holy mission of providing needed housing for people in need. He recruited effective Board members, industry partners and third party service providers to help accomplish that mission, and had a reputation for getting projects approved that no one else thought possible.

Early development projects targeted the northern Virginia region beginning with Madison House in Leesburg and expanding across the state. Many projects during the 1990’s and early 2000’s were located in underserved rural areas, such as Louisa, Appomattox, Northampton, Berryville, Staunton and Blackstone. Also during the 1990’s, VUMHDC sponsored another United Methodist group, Heart Havens, enabling them to develop and establish their initial six (6) group homes for the people with a developmental disability.

Today the VUMHDC continues to seek ways to continue expanding our service to those in need of quality affordable housing, while making sure that our current properties are maintained and upgraded to be sustainable into the future. Many of our partnered projects include a first right of refusal option so that VUMHDC may purchase the property at the end of its mortgage period.

Since the retirement of Rev. Regan in 2010, under the leadership of new president, Mal Malinowski, the Board and officers have sought ways to continue improving corporate governance. These efforts have resulted in election of Directors having professional background in finance, real estate, construction and property management and expanded activity of the Executive Committee. To meet new standards of care, the Board engaged a qualified financial advisor in 2015 to assist in evaluating potential projects and plan for the future.

Following President Malinowski’s retirement in 2016, the Board elected Larry Dickenson as the new president. Mr. Dickenson has served on the Board since 1996 and comes to his role following a 40 year career as a construction company executive.